Rewrite the Stars
by Skyress
Summary: A daughter for an alliance, a princess for a kingdom. A precarious alliance between Arendelle and Berk is forged through the marriage of Elsa and Hiccup. Elsa struggles to adapt to life at Berk, while Hiccup attempts to understand his new bride and her powers. For only true love can thaw a frozen heart.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Cousin requested. Story inspiration from a you tube video, Hiccup and Elsa: rewrite the stars, made by Midnight Kitty. So the story will be called as such.

Chapter 1

read. relish. review.

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_**Thirteen years ago, Elsa, age five…** _

"Elsa, Elsa, no peeking my darling." King Agnarr laughed as the rambunctious five-year-old starred up at him expectantly, with wondrous blue eyes. It was the winter solstice, Elsa's birthday. The eager child awaited her gift. Elsa's rosy lips twisted into a frown, she closed her eyes as per her father's instructions. King Agnarr kneeled, bringing forth the item he had been concealing behind his back, his gaze softened as he whispered to her. "Open your eyes, princess." Elsa's eyes burst open, lips parting in a 'O' at the sight of a glittering white oval stone.

"It's beautiful," Elsa whispered in awe as she held out a hand to touch it gently, it was cold, hard. "What is it?"

King Agnarr smiled gently, "This my child, is a petrified dragon egg." Elsa looked at him abruptly.

"A dragon?" Her small voice echoed in shock. "Is it sleeping?"

King Agnarr chuckled, took his daughter into his arms as they starred at the white egg. "Dragons once roamed the skies on Arendelle, Elsa. But there hasn't been a sight of a dragon here for ages. They now only exist far away where the Vikings live, they are dangerous creatures. This egg was found a long time ago in a block of ice by your great, great grandfather and has since become a family heirloom, passed down to the first child. It was given to me by my father, now it belongs to you, Elsa."

Elsa beamed up at him, "It's mine?"

"Yes, darling." King Agnarr kissed her forehead. She took the egg, hugged it tightly.

"Can I show Anna?" Elsa looked eagerly up at her father, he smiled and stroked her white-blond head. He laughed, Elsa adored her sister.

"When she wakes up from her nap, we'll show her." King Agnarr promised. The door to the throne room opened revealing Queen Iduna, she smiled sweetly at the sight of her husband and firstborn.

"Mother," Elsa cried happily as she came running towards the queen, egg in hand, Queen Iduna moved to take the small child into her arms, bringing her daughter's small body against her own in an endearing embrace.

Queen Iduna smiled, moving her fingers over her daughter's little hands. "What do you have here, my sweet?"

Elsa looked up brightly, "It's my dragon egg!" She presented the beautiful, petrified egg to her mother. "It's pretty, huh?"

"Very beautiful, my love." Iduna spoke gently. She placed her lips against her daughter's brow, smiling against the warmth of her skin. As she pulled back, she ran her fingers through Elsa's stark blonde hair, brushing them out of her face. "But you my darling are much more beautiful."

Elsa giggled at her mother's words, she snuggled into her mother's embrace. Iduna and Agnarr shared a lingering glance, warm and happy.

**_10 years ago, Elsa, age 8…_**

"Elsa, what have you done?" The king and queen cried as they rushed into throne room. Elsa looked up tearfully at her parents.

"It was an accident," The little princess wept, hugging her lifeless sister's body. "I'm sorry, Anna."

Anna's life had been saved by the troll, Pabbie, but his warning still haunted her. They rooms had been separated, Elsa lay in bed, curled around her dragon egg. She tossed and turned. Her dreams began of a happier moment, the day she received her egg. Dreamt of mother's smiling face, her embrace, her warmth. It was then the scene changed dramatically, the beautiful throne room surrounding them went white, large ice shards devoured everything in sight. Elsa screamed as she tried to reach out for her mother, but Iduna had disappeared from sight. Startled, she turned around in circles, searching for her parents. The castle room had gone out of focus only for everything to change altogether. Instead of the beautiful throne room there was clouds of winter, snow falling throughout a destroyed castle. Elsa took a step forward, the floor beneath her foot turned to ice, she cried out as she ran towards the throne in the center of the room covered in snow, dragon egg still clutched securely in her arms. She fell to the ground, her feet unwilling to cooperate, she looked over her shoulder to see her feet encased in ice. The ice progressed up her legs until half her body was frozen. Elsa screamed.

Elsa bolted awake, gasping, each breath came out in the form of a small white puff. She looked around her room, ice and snow covered the furniture, hung from her canopy bed, and ceiling. Tears fell down her cheeks, her hands felt cool from the release of her powers. She looked down at her dragon egg, held it tightly to her chest as she wept.

_**Eight years ago, Elsa, age ten…** _

Elsa stood still as she heard her parents arguing in the throne room with their councilmen. Her father sounded angry, her mother upset. "You want us to give our daughter to those barbarians as a bride?"

"Your grace, please understand." Asger, an elder amongst the council, sighed heavily. "The princess poses a threat to our kingdom, her powers are uncontrollable, dangerous. The Vikings have been growing stronger and stronger, word of their raids is spreading. The kingdom of the Southern Isles barely managed to fend them off and survive. Arendelle could be next."

"Your grace, Lord Asger speaks the truth." Asmund, a young, ambitious councilman spoke up. "We cannot worry over the safety of our citizens from an attack from the Vikings, as well as Princess Elsa's rampant powers. We only say this for the wellbeing of our kingdom. If Chief Stoick of the Hooligan Tribe agrees to an arranged marriage between his son and your daughter it could create a powerful alliance, or if they are unwilling to cooperate, Princess Elsa's powers could end their tribe… would that be so horrible?"

"Asmund!" King Agnarr thundered, Elsa flinched from her hiding spot. She'd never heard her father so furious. The king was fuming. "You think to use my daughter as a weapon against our enemies?"

Asmund shrunk back from his king's merciless glare. "My apologies, your grace, I meant no offense."

King Agnarr glared at them, his councilmen, his trusted advisors, disappointment burned deeply in his stare. The men bowed their heads unable to meet his or the queen's eye. Queen Iduna's stare was frigid.

"Elsa is my daughter, my heir." King Agnarr told them calmly, but his eyes spoke volumes. He would be unforgiving if they spoke out of term regarding his children once more. "She will stay here where she belongs with her family. You are all dismissed."

Lord Asger stared the king and queen with a steely expression, "As your command, your grace. But we do not speak so outwardly only for the concerns of our beloved kingdom, but for the concerns of Princess Anna's wellbeing. We would be greatly saddened if she were to be hurt again by Princess Elsa, or worse."

King Agnarr glared at them, "Go, now." The councilmen bowed deeply and took their leave. The king sighed deeply, his hand rubbed down his face in frustration.

"My love, what will we do?" Iduna's soft voice reached his ears, his gazed at his wife sympathetically. He took her into his arms and hugged her tightly. "She's our child."

"I know my sweet, we will protect her. She can learn to control it, I'm sure of it. Until then, we'll lock the gates. We'll reduce the staff. We will limit her contact with people and keep her powers hidden from everyone, including Anna." King Agnarr murmured against his wife's hair.

Iduna leaned away to look at him bewildered, "But my love, Elsa loves Anna. It will destroy her."

King Agnarr looked apologetic, "I know, but Lord Asger speaks the truth, I worry for Anna's safety around Elsa. Her powers are to great, she might hurt Anna again, that would devastate Elsa far more."

Iduna's eyes watered, she buried her face into her husband's chest and cried. "Our poor child, what kind of life will she have?"

King Agnarr sighed sadly, "She'll always have us, she will always be loved."

"Yes," Queen Iduna nodded against his chest. "We will love her enough for everyone."

Elsa clutched her dragon egg to her chest. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she hurried away from the throne room. She managed to slip out of the castle unseen, through the secret tunnels of the old castle. She had discovered them over a year ago when she tried to hide from Anna who only wished to play with her. But fear for her wellbeing always made Elsa chase her away or run and hide. Anna had always been persistent, while attempting to hide from her in the library, Elsa discovered the first set of tunnels behind an old bookshelf when she'd tripped and fallen into a wall ornament. There were many tunnels, some led to the sewers near the harbours, others to the old shops in the town, another led to a cave in forest at the base of a mountain.

It had become her secret hideaway, her refuge from the castle and its inhabitants. There were books and blankets in the corner, a little firepit in the middle that she'd never managed to get lit. Elsa would often go on little escapades to explore, never venturing to far from the cave in fear of getting lost. She often spent time talking to her egg, or by the little lake she'd discovered. It had been quiet and welcoming, a space she created for herself to belong, except she was the only in it. Her and her egg.

One afternoon, many days later, Elsa had sat by the lake edge with a bunch of flowers as she attempted to make a flower crown. Her egg sat upright beside her. A small crack of a stick and rustle of bushes startled the young princess, Elsa gasped, turned to see a large brown shadow. It was a bear, it snorted, grunted at her. Elsa whimpered when the bear charged at her, she screamed and turned to grab her egg. One hand was secured around her egg the other shot towards the bear as an explosion of power surged through and expelled from her hands. Shards of ice and snow shot fast and fierce through the air and impaled the large beast until it crumbled to the ground. In the same instant she heard a _crack _from beneath her, the sound of loud and sharp as a thunder clap. The force caused her body to be compelled backwards as she fell against the ground and whimpered from the pain.

Elsa rolled onto her stomach to face where her egg had been, pieces of the shell lay scattered across the ground around her as if the egg had been shattered. Smoke stirred and whirled before her. The smoke died away, she saw it there, a small dragon, the size of a cat. The dragon had white scales with glittering textures. It had a single, long spine running down its back, a pair of big ear-like adapters on the top of its head, and two smaller ones on the side. The little dragon also has triangular wing flukes and tail flukes that were glittery white in coloration. The wings were glittery white with glimmering pink strips running down both of them. Her dragon had pale, blue eyes.

At the sight of the dragon raised its head to look at Elsa, eyes like ice held hers steadily. The young princess wordless sat upright, brows furrowed and lips parting in a frown. When the dragon made to move towards her, Elsa rose to her feet and ran. She made it to the cave when she tripped over the blankets that lay sprawled across the floor, she groaned in pain as she pushed herself into a sitting position. She heard a soft hiss from behind her, the white dragon stood in the entrance of the cave, pale smoke venting from its mouth and nostrils.

Elsa closed her eyes shut tight in fear of being burned alive by this little creature, from the stories she'd read with her parents and Anna, dragons breathed immensely hot fire, strong enough to kill a human. The sting of fire never came, instead she felt a warm body scramble up her arm and drape around her shoulders. It warbled sweetly as its tail coiled around her neck under her chin. Elsa blinked and glanced down from the corner of her eye at the little dragon.

"You're friendly?" Elsa whispered, her curiosity suddenly peaked. The dragon's answer was a soft warble, it rubbed its head along her jaw affectionately. Elsa laughed and reached up to gently stroke the dragon's chin. "Let's be friends!" She announced happily, the little dragon seemed to purr as if it understood. She held out her hands as the dragon slid down to be cradled into her arms as Elsa held the dragon close to her heart. "You need a name." She looked thoughtfully at the little creature content in her arms. "You look like snow, with eyes like ice. You're like me." She smiled. "How about Wintergale? It was the name of the ice dragon in my storybook, she was beautiful and strong." The little dragon crooned, nuzzling into her neck. Elsa smiled as her eyes softened. "Wintergale, you're the only real friend I have."

_Three years ago, Elsa, age fifteen… _

"Wintergale," Elsa chided gently as the medium sized dragon came to greet her, the dragon coiled her body around her human companion in an affectionate welcome. Elsa laughed and rubbed the dragon's chin. "You have to be careful, there have been several sightings of you recently."

Wintergale lived in the cave that Elsa's secret tunnels led to, she had raised the tiny dragon as well as she could, from the fantasy books she'd read, to the few books on dragonlore that were hidden away in the royal library. She'd discovered one of her oldest grandfathers, King Eamon's journals dating back centuries, it spoke of dragons that had soared through the Arendelle skies before the massacre of the many species that took place a few years after the journal had been written. It touched vaguely upon the methods of befriending, taming, and even imprinting and raising dragons. Her father had told her it was merely folklore, stories created by an elderly king who had begun to go senile in his old age. But he had been wrong, they all had been. King Eamon had been right. She used what little information he'd written to raise Wintergale, the dragon was intelligent and had caught on quickly to the ways of being a dragon. Elsa had learned quickly after multiple times of smuggling fish from the harbour and fishermen, Wintergale's favorite was Atlantic cod.

Now old enough, Wintergale was able to hunt for herself, she'd eat fish from the nearby lake or would fly deep into the mountains to the glacier lakes and ponds to feed before returning to her cave. However, recently, the young dragon had begun to venture further and further away towards the sea, where she'd nearly been sighted by fisherman among the clouds. Thankfully, the dragon had a cloaking ability, she would seemingly disappear when she flew through a blast of fire. She was swift and agile and easily able to disappear into the clouds when needed. However, Elsa had begun to worry when word traveled back to the palace of dragon sightings, concern and panic had begun to spread through the town and castle staff.

In return it had led to outbursts in Elsa's powers as her stress grew over the wellbeing of her dragon. She'd begun to wear gloves as instructed by her father, holding dearly onto their shared words, _'Conceal it, don't feel it. Don't let it show.' _But as the sightings increased, her powers grew more rampant.

Wintergale warbled, making a motion to regurgitate, she dropped the half-eaten body of a fish onto the ground, pushed it towards Elsa, her way of consoling the distressed princess. Elsa smiled appreciatively trying to hide her disgust. "No, no, you keep it. Its yours." She hugged the pretty dragon's neck. "Thank you for offering." Wintergale nuzzled her. Elsa sighed as she leaned away, watched Wintergale re-eat her fish. Her smile faltered, she reached out to touch her dragon tenderly. "Promise me you'll be careful. Promise me." Wintergale warbled a response, Elsa trembled, she hugged the dragon tightly. "I can't lose you, Wintergale." The dragon crooned affectionately, Elsa smiled at her softly. "I have to return to the castle, I'll be back tonight. Behave yourself until then, stay away from the town and sea." Wintergale sat down seemingly crestfallen. Elsa felt her heart break, "Don't give me that look, its for your safety." Wintergale warbled unhappily. Elsa sighed in feigned annoyance, "Tell you what, if you behave, I'll sneak you an Atlantic cod from the marketplace." At this the dragon perked up, it still marveled Elsa how well the dragon understood human speech. "I'll see you soon." She disappeared into the tunnels while Wintergale settled herself nap in the heap of blankets Elsa had used to make a nest like bed.

A few weeks later, a storm was brewing across the sea. Winter was close as fall was beginning to cede. For a few days there had been no sightings of the elusive dragon, everyone had begun to lose interest. Until, rumours of a sheep stealing dragon had spread like wildfire throughout Arendelle, a sheep herder had brought the charred remains of one of his sheep to King Agnarr, demanding justice. After a day or so another sheep had been killed, and sightings of a dragon near the mountains.

And so, began the dragon hunt.

Elsa had watched in horror as her father called forth the Arendelle army, civilians armed themselves with weapons and torches as night came quickly as did the cold. Queen Iduna had remained in the castle with her daughters, Elsa paced back and forth in front of the fireplace.

Anna set aside her book, "Mother, why can't I go as well?"

"Don't be foolish, Anna, what if you got hurt." Queen Iduna scolded gently, concern very much alive for the child she'd once nearly lost.

"I'd be fine with father," Anna protested.

"Anna," Queen Iduna said firmly.

Anna sighed dramatically, "Okay, okay." She settled back into her chair, Iduna smiled at her daughter's show of rebellion. She turned to see her eldest, hands knotted at her chest, pacing quickly. "Elsa, come join us, darling."

Elsa turned to her mother, "Mother, if by chance there is a dragon in Arendelle, what would father do with it?"

"Destroy it of course," Queen Iduna told her. Elsa froze. "Dragons are dangerous creatures, its only a matter of time before it takes a civilian or worse. It must be eliminated. Humans and dragons were never meant to coexist."

Elsa suddenly felt sick to her stomach, "We don't know that!" Elsa's outburst took both her mother and sister by surprise. "We know nothing about them, so how do we know we can't coexist."

"Elsa," Queen Iduna said softly as she approached her eldest child. "You need to calm down." She tried to reach for her hand, she could feel the coldness through the gloves she wore, saw the tiny cuts in the leather material as they were slowly being torn apart by her daughter's powerful abilities. "My darling, you need to calm yourself."

Elsa tried to take a breath, but her heart thundered in her chest like a hummingbird as she imagined her dragon being slaughtered. "I'm trying." She whispered fearfully. _'Conceal it, don't feel it. Don't let it show!' _She repeated to herself over and over again. It wasn't working. Her panic grew. "I'm going to my room." She tore her hands away from her mother and dashed out of the great hall.

"Elsa!" Anna yelled at her sister.

"Anna, no!" Queen Iduna hurried and grabbed her youngest daughter by the shoulders. "Leave your sister be. She'll be fine."

"But mother," Anna's eyes saddened. "She looked so scared. She needs us!" She pushed past her mother and hurried out of the room, shouting for Elsa.

"Anna!" Queen Iduna cried as she chased after her daughter.

Anna ran past the library, in time to see her sister disappear through a dark tunnel behind the bookshelf. Her eyes widened, brows furrowed, how had she never known about this! She quickly hurried after her sister as the bookshelf began to close. She made it through in time, she heard her mother's voice calling out her name. Anna wanted to shout back to her but saw the torch light her sister carried begin to dim as she hurried through the tunnels. Anna's curiosity got the better of her, for years her sister remained distant, as if she were on a lone peninsula that Anna could never hope to reach. Well, today would be the day she reached her sister. Anna ran for what seemed a lifetime until she saw a bit of light and heard her sister's frantic voice.

"Oh, thank goodness. Wintergale, you're safe!" Elsa cried out in sheer relief. She heard a strange rumble like sound respond to her.

Anna moved forward until she could see through the opening, her breath hitched in her throat when she saw the large, white dragon coiled around her sister. "Elsa!" Anna shouted. "Get away from that monster!" Elsa and Wintergale looked on in alarm at the sight of the Arendelle princess, Wintergale hissed, her tail wrapped around protectively around the blonde. Hackles raised like a spitting cat, the white dragon narrowed her pale blue eyes onto the younger woman.

"Anna, what are you doing here!" Elsa demanded, trying to soothe the agitated dragon. "Wintergale, it's okay, she won't hurt you, she's my sister. She's family." Wintergale snorted untrusting of the intruder. Elsa rounded on her sister, "Anna, you need to go. You need to leave now!"

"Not until you tell me what's going on here!" Anna demanded, arms crossed, she stood her ground despite the fear that ran through her.

Elsa's frustration grew, "I don't have time to explain, they can be here at any moment."

"Who?" Anna looked at her and then the dragon. "Let me help you, Elsa!"

"Father and his army!" Elsa yelled at her. "It wasn't Wintergale, but if they find her, they'll kill her!"

"Wintergale?" Anna looked incredulously at her sister.

"My dragon," Elsa looked at her sister with uncertainty. "She hatched three years ago from the egg father gave me, I raised her, kept her secret here."

"Those sightings…" Anna began.

"They were her at first, but I made sure she didn't fly out towards the sea anymore." Elsa quickly defended her dragon. "She doesn't eat sheep, she eats fish. It's a different dragon."

Anna looked unsure, "They said it was white, Elsa."

"It wasn't her!" Elsa hissed.

"How do you know, she's a dragon!" Anna glared at the white creature.

"Because I trust her!" Elsa glared at Anna in return. "If you don't believe me, if you won't help us, you need to leave. I won't let you or anyone hurt Wintergale."

Anna glared for a long moment between her sister and the dragon before she groaned in frustration, "Fine, alright, I'll help you! What do we do?"

Elsa's tense for quickly relaxed, the power that sparked in her hands slowly died away, she smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Anna. We have to get her out of here and into the mountains, somewhere men and horses can't follow. She can't fly, we risk someone seeing her. We'll have to go by foot."

"Alright, let's go." Anna nodded determinedly. The three set out of their journey, wrapped in the blankets for warmth as Anna had forgotten her jacket. The storm began to pick up as the winds swept through the Arendelle forests. It was dark as thunder boomed overheard and lightning set the skies ablaze. Anna's turquoise eyes settled onto her sister, a glimmer of admiration shone in them. "You actually hatched and raised her yourself?"

Elsa froze for a moment, it had been a very long time since she'd had a real conversation with her sister. "Yes, I did."

"That's amazing, Elsa!" Anna spoke excitedly, Elsa looked at surprised a moment, looked sheepish at her words. "But I can't believe you hatched that egg, father said it had been petrified for years."

Elsa looked alarmed, "I don't know myself honestly."

Wintergale warbled at them, there was a mass of trees fallen over from the winds, the white dragon began to lead the way, easily weaving her body through the maze of broken trees. Elsa and Anna followed less gracefully, ducking and climbing over the large trunks. In a sudden strike of lightning, Elsa noticed the streak of white in Anna's strawberry blonde hair. Her heart ached at the physical remnant of her fatal mistake when they had been younger.

"Are you okay?" Anna asked suddenly startling her sister.

"Oh, yes, I'm fine." Elsa quickly said as she turned away from her. "We should keep going."

It was then they heard the sound of voices and thundering hooves over the loud winds. Then Anna and Elsa heard their father's voice leading the charge. "This way, it couldn't have gotten far!"

"They found us!" Anna whispered worriedly.

"No, they're following something else." Elsa murmured as she felt herself go numb. She heard Wintergale hiss and growl suddenly, her back raised, wings slowly beginning to open threateningly. It was then they felt the ground shake from beneath them. Elsa's eyes widened. She grabbed Anna's hand. "Run!"

They hurried through the disarray of fallen trees until they made it into a clearing, Anna and Elsa slipped in the mud as rain poured heavier and harder. The ground trembled, as a large figure shot out from the earth and hovered above them, it roared. It had a large snowy, white body with blue highlights, with blue eyes. Two powerful legs and broad wings that had large claws. It had sharp pointy teeth, and two prominent tusks in its mouth, and a long tail covered in spikes. It landed before them, easily moving on all four limbs. The dragon leapt at them, Anna screamed, Elsa covered her sister protectively. The strike never came as they heard the dragon roar in pain, and Wintergale roar furiously. Elsa watched in horror as Wintergale leapt on the dragon's back, biting and scratching.

The two dragons fought and rolled around in the mud and debris as the storm brewed overhead. Wintergale leapt away from the dragon and took a protective stance in front of Elsa and Anna. The white dragon reared up and released a series of shots in rapid succession at them, Wintergale released an explosive blast of pink, red and purple in return. The force of the collision them all hurdling in all directions.

Elsa and Anna had crashed into a tree, Elsa had taken the impact to protect her sister, her hand touched the back of her aching head, blood coated her glove. She had wanted to scream, but there was not enough breath left in her lungs. Elsa and Anna lay there dazed and disorientated. Elsa saw Wintergale laying on her side, she warbled softly, she heard a rumble of a roar as the other white dragon got to its feet, it stumbled a few times before righting itself and gave a mighty roar as it moved towards Wintergale. Elsa gasped.

"N-no," She murmured still breathless as she struggled to her feet.

"Elsa!" Anna tried to stop her. "There's nothing we can do!"

"I won't let her die!" Elsa said frantically, her hands tingled with power. Anna gasped as she pulled away when a sudden coldness met her fingers. A cool bluish smoke fell from Elsa's hands, it was ice forming at her finger tips.

"Elsa…" Anna whispered, eyes wide with fear. Elsa's heart broke at the sight of her sister's fear of her.

"I'm sorry, Anna." Elsa whispered as she hurried towards her dragon. "Hey!" She shouted at the white, angry dragon. "Over here ugly!" She yelled as the dragon growled, it charged towards her, Anna screamed her name, Wintergale roar was filled with heartache. Elsa stumbled back as the large dragon leapt at her, teeth barred, Elsa fell back hands raised, everything happened in a quick succession, her heart beat rapidly in her chest, blood roared in her ears, her fear blasted through body, ice and snow shot out of her hands in a barrage of angry icicle like spears. The dragon snarled in pain as crashed into the ground, ice shards piercing out of its underbelly.

Anna got to her feet and ran towards her sister, as did Wintergale. "Elsa!" Anna fell to the ground beside her sister, eyes frantic. Relief washed over her when she saw Elsa unharmed. "Oh, thank goodness." She hugged the unsuspecting blonde quickly and tightly. "I was so worried."

Elsa slowly returned her hug, then embraced her. "You're not scared of me?"

"I was at first, but you're my sister." Anna looked at her with a bright smile. "And I love you, Elsa."

Elsa felt tears form in her eyes, "I love you to, Anna, so much!" They heard voices approaching, Elsa looked Wintergale, she quickly released her sister and got to her feet. Moments later, King Agnarr and his men road in, Lord Asmund and Asger at his heels on their horses.

King Agnarr looked in shock to see his daughters, the fallen dragon, and the one remaining dragon behind his children. "Elsa, Anna, get away from that beast!"

"No, father, she won't hurt anyone!" Elsa ran to stand protectively in front of her dragon.

"Princess Elsa, we must slay that beast before it attacks us!" Lord Asger said heatedly.

"No!" Elsa stood her ground determinedly.

"Elsa, please." King Agnarr tried to reason with his daughter. His concern rose when saw her gloves were missing. "Calm down darling."

"Men kill that beast!" Lord Asger and Asmund instructed. The soldiers raised the lances and motioned their horses onward in an attack towards the white dragon. Wintergale growled, ready to defend herself.

"No, stop!" Elsa shouted as ice shot from her hands creating a barrier of ice between them and king, Anna and the Arendelle army. The horses reared up as men began to shout in fear of the princess's powers. Wintergale approached Elsa, warbling softly, Elsa turned and hugged her dragon tightly. "You've got to go, they'll kill you. You have to go!" Elsa pushed the dragon towards the forest. "Go, fly away, you have to go Wintergale!" The dragon crooned sadly. Elsa was crying now. "Fly away and don't ever come back, promise me!" Wintergale began to go, she looked back once, warbling sorrowfully. "Leave!" Elsa screamed at her, pushing her. Slowly she unfanned her wings and flew into the sky, with one last look, Wintergale released a plasma blast and disappeared into it.

King Agnarr and his men approached, Elsa wept for her loss.

At the castle, the royal family stood together in the throne room. King Agnarr paced back and forth. "What were you thinking, Elsa, and you Anna?" He looked at his daughters. "You two could've been killed!"

"We're fine father," Anna argued. "Elsa's dragon protected us!"

Queen Iduna looked at her children curiously, "Elsa's dragon?" She looked at her eldest daughter in confusion.

"She hatched from the egg father gave me," Elsa explained.

"That's impossible," King Agnarr spoke. "That egg has been petrified for nearly a generation."

"You said grandfather found the egg in a block of ice, maybe my powers reversed it." Elsa said as the king and queen exchanged glances.

"I know," Anna said quietly as she looked at Elsa. "Elsa's powers saved us. They killed the dragon that was killing the sheep."

"Be as that may all dragons are the enemy," King Agnarr told his daughters. He looked at Elsa almost apologetically. "Yours is no exception, Elsa."

"She's gone, she won't be back." Elsa told them coldly. "If that is all I'll return to my room." She turned and left the throne room.

Anna looked between her parents and sister, "Elsa, wait!"

In the quiet of her room, Elsa wept, Anna consoled her, and Elsa told her everything.

A few days later.

"Darling, you can't agree with what they are saying!" Queen Iduna was trembling with grief.

"My love, I wish I could fight against it. But the council, they all agree with Lord Asger, the people of Arendelle have seen Elsa's power, they are threatening to rebel, they will not accept her as their future queen." King Agnarr sighed with a heavy heart. "The people do not feel safe with her as my heir. I must send her away."

"She's our daughter," Queen Iduna argued as tears fell from her eyes. "She's my child. Who knows what those barbarians will do to her, how they will treat her!"

"Chief Stoick's son has found a way to tame the dragons, that kind of power is dangerous. We cannot fight it if they were to come and try to claim our kingdom." King Agnarr looked at his wife helplessly. "Lord Asger and the council agree its best to create an alliance through marriage, between Chief Stoick's son and Elsa. We will have our alliance, Elsa will be gone from Arendelle, and Anna will become future queen."

"This isn't right," Queen Iduna shook her head furiously, she wept openly. "How will Elsa feel, being cast out by her own family."

King Agnarr looked on sadly, "I love her, she's our daughter. But I must put the wellbeing of my people first, my love. I am their king. They look to me to lead them, to protect them. And their fear is Elsa, what

else can I do as the king. The council has voted, they are all in agreement. Elsa will marry Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the third on her eighteenth birthday."

**_Present, Elsa, age almost eighteen…_**

It was several days until the winter solstice, Elsa's eighteenth birthday. It had been announced many months ago, Chief Stoick had agreed to arranged marriage long ago. The Hooligan tribe would be arriving any day now for the wedding. Queen Iduna had watched with a heavy heart as preparations had begun for their arrival, and then preparations for the wedding would begin. And then, Elsa would be leaving. Her firstborn would be gone far across the seas.

In her room Elsa sat, Anna had entered and come to sit at her side. She took her sister's hand. "How are you doing?" Anna asked softly.

"I'm fine," Elsa offered her a small smile, Anna saw right through it. Tears formed in both the sisters' eyes. Anna took Elsa into her arms and hugged her tightly. Elsa wept softly into her shoulder, "I don't want to be his queen, Anna."

"I'm so sorry, Elsa." Anna whispered and held her sister close.

* * *

End of Chapter!

It turned out a lot longer then I thought.

I hope you all enjoyed and please review if you'd like an update, and I'd love to hear your thoughts and suggestions. This universe/fandom is pretty new to me, so it may take me a few chapters to get characteristics down.

**Author's Note**: _Wintergale_ (Got the name from Skyrim, cousin suggested it. I've never personally played it. I just liked the name.) yes is a light fury. The other dragon I was describing is a Snow Wraith, only one I found similar to a light fury. Elsa and the people of Arendelle would not know what kind of dragons they were as they possess little information about them, so I was trying to nail the description. Hopefully I did. I tried to go with Norse names as per Asger and Asmund, as I believe Agnarr and Iduna were Norse names.

Would love to hear your feedback! Next chapter will be more to do with Hiccup, of course.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

* * *

**Berk, three years ago, Stoick…**

The day was sunny, but bitter cold, signalling winter would soon be approaching Berk. Stoick overlooked his village, took a deep breath of the crisp morning air and allowed himself a moment of peace. It looked over his home, Berk, with immense pride. But he was tired, so very tired. As chief it was his duty to defend and provide for his people, but with a son like Hiccup, it made his duties that much more difficult. He loved his son dearly, he did, but he along with everyone else knew he was… different, so unlike all the other Viking children. He wanted to protect him, he'd made an oath after the untimely death of his mother that he would look after his son, raise him as a true Viking, never let any harm come to the child as long as he lived. Hiccup did make the oath easy to keep. He worried for him every moment of every day, his son was his heir, the future chief of Berk. It was a lot of heavy burden to put on the shoulders of a young child.

Stoick sighed, "Valka, what am I going to do with our boy?" He whispered to the clouds and skies above. He often thought of her, his late wife, during these quiet mornings.

"Stoick!" A loud voice called, pulling the chief from his thoughts. Stoick looked at his old, dear friend, Gobber hobble over towards him. His eyes found his friends, quickly registering the concern they tried to hide.

"What is it, Gobber?" Stoick noticed the small scroll he clutched in his hand.

"A letter," Gobber began as Stoick waited for him to continue. "From the kingdom of Arendelle." Gobber clarified, Stoick looked startled, but quickly took on a neutral expression, but the same concern now shadowed his eyes too.

"Give it here," Stoick took the scroll, opened it and quickly scanned over its contents. Months ago, on a raid to search for the dragon's nest, the Vikings had nearly collided with a vessel from Arendelle, whose ship was broken. Stoick had met one of the royal advisors, Lord Asger. The Arendelle had gone to discuss trade with another kingdom when a terrible storm had thrown this ship horribly off course. They had all remained diplomatic and Gobber had helped fix their ship, going their separate ways shortly afterwards. He could only imagine Lord Asger had told his king everything. Stoick had heard of the kingdom of Arendelle, small, but quickly growing in trade with other nations and in power.

"What's it say?" Gobber asked booming with curiosity.

Stoick looked shocked as he turned to his friends, "They want to create an alliance, through marriage. King Agnarr is offering the hand of his oldest daughter, Elsa, to wed Hiccup!" Gobber's jaw went slack. He took the scroll and read it, sharing his friend's shock.

"What are you going to decide, Stoick?" Gobber handed the scroll back to his chief.

Stoick rubbed his beard thoughtfully, "An alliance would be beneficial for Berk, Gobber. Arendelle is known for its trade with other nations and kingdoms, Berk could do the same, especially with this dragon problem. Each winter gets harder and harder to make it through. If we were to be attacked during winter, gods help us, we'd be destroyed. We cannot fight men and dragons alike."

"What about, Hiccup?" Gobber reminded him carefully. "This will affect his life."

Stoick sighed, "I know, I know. But you know him, he's always been different. He's not like us." There was pain in the chief's voice. "He will need to marry and have children to continue the line of succession for chief, otherwise it will go to Snotlout." Gobber cringed at the thought of the highly arrogant boy. "Do you think any Viking here would marry Hiccup?" Stoick sighed, Gobber remained silent. "The answer is no, you know how the other Vikings think of him. This offers Hiccup a chance to have his own family one day, Gobber, to have children, to be chief. He would have someone at his side to help him rule Berk when I'm gone. I would be a fool to say no."

"Are you going to speak with the boy?" Gobber asked with a raised brow. "Get his input on the idea of an arranged marriage to some princess he's never met?"

Stoick mulled over his thoughts, shook his head furiously. "There's no need, I've decided, this is what is best for him. He's a fifteen-year-old boy, he won't understand right now, but one day he will. I will write back to them tonight. Hiccup will marry Princess Elsa of Arendelle."

The next day a messenger was sent to hand deliver the Viking's chief acceptance of the marriage proposal to King Agnarr.

**Present, Hiccup, age eighteen…**

The morning had dawned clear, warm, and crisp. Hiccup and Toothless had took off from Berk before his parents had a chance to awaken. It had been a few months since Drago Bludvist's defeat. Many dragons had gone free back to the wild, while others returned with the Vikings to Berk and settled into their new home. Hiccup and Toothless, now king of the dragons, were closer then ever. Hiccup especially held his father in a higher regard after almost losing him when Drago had had taken control of the night fury. The plasma blast meant for Hiccup had nearly hit Stoick when he attempted to save his son, thankfully both had narrowly missed the blast.

Eret and his mother, Valka, had returned to Berk as well. His family was complete. Life was good. Every morning for the last few months, Hiccup would venture out, sometimes with Eret and Astrid, or just himself and Toothless to find and destroy Drago's remaining dragon traps. They had rescued dozens of dragons that had remained trapped after Drago's death. Eret had created a map of the locations he and other trappers had gone to capture dragons.

Toothless warbled as they neared a hidden cove, it was far, further then Hiccup and Toothless had gone recently. Suddenly Toothless's interest was peaked, alerting his rider.

"What's wrong, bud?" Hiccup asked his dragon companion, he watched Toothless's ears swivel around on his head. Toothless looked over his shoulder at the future chief and released a rumble. Hiccup looked around, dressed in his armoured flight suit, and his matching spiked, masked helmet. He saw a dragon trap that had been clearly sprung, but there was no dragon in sight. Toothless's behaviour, however, seemed to disagree. "There's nothing there."

Toothless warbled in disagreement, eyes scanning the shoreline and dragon trap. His senses on high alert, something, or someone was here. He could smell them. He had yet to decide if they were foe or ally. Toothless growled, growing irritated unable to find the source of the smell. He felt Hiccup stroke his head, whispering to him calmly, "Easy bud, its okay." Toothless was soothed by him and continued to scan around the area.

He would not allow anyone to harm his friend. They landed on the sandy beach at the end of the cove where the dragon trap lay, water lapped at the shoreline. The tide would be high in the afternoon, most likely engulfing the small beach.

Hiccup removed his helmet, the cove was a pretty area, dense with thick bush and foliage, tall trees and rocks jutting out over the cliff edges. It was undisturbed and untouched by man. It was a good place to lay a trap for wild dragons. Toothless warbled to his rider as he sniffed around the sandy shore, Hiccup sighed and followed after his dragon after adjusting his leg prosthetic.

"Are you sure you found something, bud?" Hiccup slowly trailed after his dragon. "I mean that nose of yours could be wrong."

Toothless glared at him over his shoulder.

Hiccup laughed, "I was just joking, I trust your nose." Satisfied Toothless went back to sniffing the sand as they got closer and closer to the dragon trap. They were within several feet of the trap when Toothless heard a low hiss carried by the wind. His head shot up, ears swiveled, he warbled. Hiccup was quick to his side, "Toothless, what is it?" He looked around for an enemy, or any signs of danger approaching. Toothless warbled, looked at him than back at the empty cage. He heard the hiss again, this time more threatening.

Toothless wrapped his tail protectively around Hiccup, drawing him close to his body. His back arched and Toothless released a thunderous roar, an alpha roar. It was then Hiccup saw it, the trap shuddered, something was in it, and it was agitated.

"Toothless," Hiccup whispered to his old friend. "Is it a dragon?" Toothless rumbled a response to him. Hiccup nodded, he'd never dealt with an invisible dragon before, what a find! Or maybe it was a new species of Hobblegrunt. "Okay, you keep it distracted and I'll break the cage door." Toothless warbled, Hiccup withdrew his fire blade, Inferno. He took a deep breath, not knowing how to deal with this unknown species. "Here we go!"

Toothless roared again, the cage shuddered, Hiccup snuck around behind his night fury and towards the cage while Toothless continued his aggressive display, the invisible dragon hissed loudly, threateningly in return. Hiccup lit his blade on fire and lashed the steel bars of the cage in half, he saw it then, the invisible dragon took shape and color. Hiccup and Toothless looked bewildered, speechless, at the sight of the white dragon with shimmering scales and highlights of pink and piercing pale blue eyes. It eerily similar to a night fury.

"It can't be," Hiccup whispered in shock at the dragon before him. He lost his senses momentarily when the dragon reared up, now free of the cage, it released a plasma blast at him, Hiccup shouted, "No, no, wait! We won't hurt you!" But it was too late as the white dragon released the blast, Toothless released a furious roar as he dove to save his best friend, grabbing the unsuspecting human and coiling into a ball around him. They dodged the blast and rolled a good distance away before Toothless unfolded himself, standing protectively over Hiccup. He was furious.

The white dragon roared at him, clearly more agitated by the human beside him. Toothless roared, his nose, mouth, and back began to glow blue as he took on his titan wing stage, or his alpha form as described by some. He tried his alpha ability of manipulation to will the white dragon to calm down, the white dragon shook its head, thrashing back and forth to fight it. Hiccup watched in amazement, he'd never seen Toothless use this ability since he became the alpha, he knew his dragon was opposed to it, but if Toothless was doing it now, this new dragon must be dangerous he concluded.

"Hiccup!" He heard a voice call out to him, he looked up to see Astrid on Stormfly, her deadly nadder. Eret was close behind on his own deadly nadder, Fyrestorm, a prominently red and pale blue male. They landed on the beach and hurried towards the duo. "Are you alright?" Astrid demanded worriedly, until her eyes settled onto the white dragon who grew more furious as more humans arrived.

The white dragon roared and shot a plasma blast at Astrid. "Watch out!" Eret shouted as he grabbed the blonde Viking by the waist, and they fell unceremoniously onto the ground. Astrid gasped as she looked to her side where there was a deep crater in the sand now burnt black and sizzling with smoke and ember. The blast would have killed her.

Astrid looked at Eret, breathless, she managed out, "Thanks for saving me."

Eret smiled, "Anytime."

Stormfly and Fyrestorm took on a defensive form, roaring at the white foe. Toothless released his alpha manipulation on the white dragon to warble at the deadly nadders, effectively freeing the white dragon from his hold. The white dragon shot up towards the sky, hovered there a moment eyeing the night fury, she turned and released a plasma blast and shot through it, disappearing from sight.

"Where did it go?" Hiccup looked around frantically for any sign of it.

"Hiccup," Astrid approached him. "Thank Odin you're safe."

"I'm fine, I had Toothless with me." Hiccup reassured her with a smile. "Did you see it?" He looked on in amazement. "It looked like Toothless, but not… more like a bright…fury?"

"A light fury," Astrid spoke as she looked at Toothless.

"Light fury," Hiccup mulled the name around, deciding he liked the sound of it. "Yeah, yours is better."

"We should go back," Astrid said as she turned to get on her dragon. "That dragon is probably far gone by now. It obviously doesn't like humans."

"Can you blame it?" Hiccup sighed as he got onto Toothless's back. "Who knows how long it was stuck in that cage."

"We can talk about it more once we're back at Berk," Eret told them, silently Hiccup agreed. The three dragon riders took off into the skies and towards Berk, Hiccup noticed Toothless look over his shoulder at the cove, he warbled sadly.

"I know, bud." Hiccup shared his friend's disappointment. "Maybe we'll find it again one day." He tried to encourage his best friend, Toothless crooned in return. Unknown to them, the white dragon had been watching them all along, it slowly began to follow, curious of the black dragon, but it remained a good distance behind to avoid detection.

Back at Berk, Astrid and Eret told the other dragon riders about the light fury. Ruffnut looked shocked, "Wow, did you like manage to catch it?" She looked around eagerly.

Astrid sighed, "No, it got away."

Tuffnut shook his head, "Man, if I were there, that light fury would never have gotten away!"

Ruffnut rolled her eyes, "Yeah right."

Fishlegs was eagerly making a new dragon card, "What did it look like?"

Hiccup looked at his friend, smiled slightly at his enthusiasm. "Like Toothless, but white." Fishlegs looked in awe before hurrying away to continue his work on his card.

Astrid approached her boyfriend, "What's wrong, you seem distracted ever since we got back." On their journey home, that had found three other dragon traps and destroyed them, releasing four dragons, who now resided on Berk.

"Nothing, I was just thinking of the light fury," Hiccup told her, a small smile of reassurance on his face. "Toothless seems upset it disappeared on us."

Astrid glanced over to see the pouting night fury, she smiled. "He'll be okay, I'm sure he'll have a chance to meet it again one day."

Hiccup nodded, "I hope so."

"Hiccup, you've returned!" Valka approached her son and hugged him fiercely. She did that a lot, in her own words, she was making up for lost time.

"Hi mom," Hiccup smiled at her. "I have so much to tell you!"

"It can wait son; your father has been looking for you everywhere!" Valka said as Hiccup sighed.

"I hope it's not about what I think its about." Hiccup murmured, Valka looked sympathetically at her only son. She understood, for weeks, Stoick had been dropping hints for Hiccup to learn the ways of the chief, to begin training for his successor one day.

"Be easy on him, Hiccup. Your father means well." Valka smoothed his scraggly brown locks.

Hiccup chuckled, "I know he does, but how do I live up to his expectations, he's an amazing chief, and I can't even hold a candle to that. It's what he does best."

Valka touched her son's cheek, "He only wants to prepare you son, you know your father can't be chief forever."

Hiccup sighed heavily, "I know." It was his destiny, his fate, his decided future, he would become chief one day. He would take over for his father and rule Berk. He looked at his dragon thoughtfully, Toothless had become alpha without meaning to, his only desire had been to defend his best friend from Drago's alpha bewilderbeast. If his best friend could uphold his new responsibility as king of all dragons, the least Hiccup could do was do his duty as future chief. He turned to his mother, nodded. "I'll go talk to him now."

Valka smiled and pressed a hand to his cheek affectionately, "You're a good son, Hiccup."

"Thanks mom," Hiccup smiled as he began to make his way back home, Toothless was quick on his heels. Valka watched him so sadly, a frown marring her lips. Now it was time to do her duty, as Stoick had regretfully asked of her. Valka turned to see Eret and Astrid talking about their deadly nadders, who appeared to in the middle of courtship of becoming mates.

"Astrid," Valka called out to the pretty Viking woman. "Can I have word my dear?" Valka smiled gently.

"Of course," Astrid replied quickly as she excused herself and gave Stormfly one last hug. The two women began to walk towards the forest near the village, far out of earshot and prying eyes.

At home, Hiccup found his father sitting by the firepit stoking a small flame. He often did that when he needed to think, or he had to have a serious conversation with his son. Watching the flickering flames calmed the older Viking and allowed him to collect his thoughts. Toothless followed his rider into the house, settling himself beside the fire for a nap. Truthfully, the night fury was tired from the morning's events. His thoughts still on the white dragon, the light fury. Toothless sighed deeply as he tucked himself into a ball to sleep.

"Hi dad," Hiccup said as he took a seat next to his father, he offered the older Haddock a slight smile. "Mom said you wanted to talk to me?"

Stoick sighed, there was no going back, no other way around it. "Yes, son. We need to talk, I need you to have an open mind, and try to understand."

Hiccup looked taken aback, this was not how he had been expecting their talk to start, his father so serious and solemn in expression. "Uh, yeah sure, whatever you say dad." He looked at his father expectantly.

"You are the pride of Berk son, and I couldn't be prouder. You're all grown up and no chief could ask for a better successor, or a better son. There are many duties and obligations that come with being chief, Hiccup. Some we do willingly, and others we must choose to do for the good of our people." Stoick turned to look at his son, eyes beaming with pride, love, and a few other emotions Hiccup could not figure out. "Berk is growing and becoming known to the world. We can no longer hide away from the other nations and kingdoms, son. The world is beginning to know of our dragons, they call you the dragon master, the tamer of dragons, with it comes understanding and fear, Hiccup. Other kingdoms fear the power Berk holds with our dragons, they feel threatened, and one day it may lead to another war, or it may not. But, if war is to come, we cannot unleash dragons upon humans, which is why we need allies. Do you understand, son?"

Hiccup nodded slowly, "I think so. You're worried Berk will be seen as a threat to other kingdoms and nations and they may retaliate by declaring war upon us and our dragons." Stoick nodded with a serious expression. "I agree we need allies. Allies who are willing to understand our way of life and that dragons aren't bloodthirsty monsters."

"Correct," Stoick agreed.

"So, how do you suggest we go about making allies in the known world?" Hiccup leaned out to touch is slumbering dragon's head, Toothless crooned in his sleep. "Dragons aside, people think of Vikings as barbarians, savages who just raid and destroy other villages and kingdoms. Dragons aren't the only ones misunderstood, dad. We are as well."

"You speak the truth, son." Stoick sighed heavily. "I need to be honest with you, Hiccup. And I hope you'll understand why I did what I did, it was for you, our people, for Berk, and now for our dragons."

Hiccup laughed nervously, "Just tell me, dad. You're starting to worry me."

"When you were fifteen, before we began to coexist with dragons, before it all changed. I received a letter from the kingdom of Arendelle, it was a small kingdom, but growing steadily in trade and power. Their ruler, King Agnarr was offering to create an alliance with Berk."

"That's great, dad!" Hiccup smiled, Stoick shared a faint one.

"Aye, it was. It meant protection for Berk, more trade, assistance throughout our difficult winters." Stoick explained, Hiccup nodded with understanding. "But there was a catch, the alliance they wanted created was to be through marriage. A political match, between my heir and King Agnarr's eldest daughter."

"No… dad…" Hiccup was at a loss. "Don't tell me…"

"I agreed to the union." Stoick said quietly. "It was before it all happened, before you changed everything, son."

"It's been three years, surely you can change your mind now." Hiccup looked hopeful.

"I'm sorry son," Stoick looked apologetic, ashamed. "Agreeing to an alliance through marriage is not something you can easily take back. I tried. The king did not take kindly to my retraction, he took it as a blatant insult, and he refused to ally his kingdom with us."

"Then we will find other allies," Hiccup stood, paced around the firepit.

"Son, it's not that easy. You know how the world thinks of Vikings, and of the power we now hold. Hiccup, a chief belongs not only to himself, but to his people. They look to us to lead them, to protect them, we must put aside our pride and wants for their and our dragons' survival."

"Dad, do you understand what you are asking of me?" Hiccup tried to protest. "What about Astrid?"

"Astrid a true Viking, she'll understand sacrifices need to be made for the good of her people." Stoick told his son, he tried to be understanding as well, tried to be both a father and chief in that moment. "Arendelle holds a lot of power with kingdoms and nations near us, Hiccup, they have many allies. It would take only a single word of threat from us for them to rally against us. Human hearts are easily swayed."

"We don't know that for sure, dad." Hiccup shook his head, trying to grasp some form of understanding of the entire situation.

"Look what nearly happened with Drago, he had a dragon army." Stoick argued. "What would you do against a human army, use the dragons to set them all ablaze?"

"Of course not," Hiccup looked disgusted at the notion.

"We don't have enough Vikings to fight Arendelle and all their allies, Hiccup." Stoick tried to reason with his son. "We need them and their allies, to show them Berk is not a kingdom of savages, that all dragons are monsters. We start to change the world's views of Vikings and dragon by starting with our allies. We have none."

'_Marriage or carnage, a wedding or war. Those are my options.' _Hiccup ran a hand through his brown hair. Green eyes banked with fire. "I need to think, Toothless!" The night fury was quick to his feet, he warbled, Hiccup made for a hasty retreat, he froze at the door, when his father shouted his name. Hiccup grimaced, "You owe me this, dad. You can't just drop something like this on me and not give me time to think."

Stoick sighed, "Alright, go. But I need your answer by sunrise tomorrow."

"Alright," Hiccup murmured as he left the house, Toothless in tow. Stoick sighed, settled back into his seat and angrily stoked the fire. A few moments later he heard the door open, Stoick looked up quickly to see the love of his life, Valka. He offered her a tired, defeated smile.

"Oh Stoick," Valka came over to touch his cheek, a sad smile on her lips. "This is my fault as well, if only I had returned sooner…"

"No, Val." Stoick took her hands in his, kissed them tenderly. "I failed him, I sold my son for an alliance, if I say no now, we risk our entire village and our dragons."

"I know," Valka kissed his cheek. "You did what you thought was best. You cannot control the outcome of good intentions, my love. Hiccup is learning this. He is still young, but he will need these lessons for when he becomes chief."

Stoick knew his wife spoke the truth, their son had learned greatly from the choices he had made during their war with Drago. He had been naïve, to idealistic, to set in his abilities to change people's hearts and minds. It had nearly cost him his home, his best friend, his father. Yes, Hiccup had learned much from their war.

Hiccup flew in the sky, high above the clouds, mind a mess of thoughts. His eyes narrowed, he leaned back and let out a piercing yell. Toothless winced, glancing up at his friend. He crooned. Hiccup leaned back to rest his back against the night fury's spine. He stroked his warm scaled body. "What am I going to do, bud?" His voice was mournful. Toothless warbled sympathetically. Hiccup slowly sat up. "He's done so much for me my whole life, Toothless. And now, he needs me to do this, for him, for Berk. How do I say no to that? He almost died because of me, Berk was nearly destroyed because of me." He touched his dragon's head. "I almost lost you as well, my best friend. It was my fault." Toothless crooned. Berk was in the midst of repair since the bewilderbeast attacked. "Dad was right we can't reason with them, but we can't afford to fight them either." Hiccup sighed. "The more dragons we get, the stronger Berk becomes in the eyes of the world, we can't hide anymore especially after the dragon war. We can't run away, they'll just find us. If we don't create alliances, one day the kingdoms may demand our submission, and we can't allow that either." They flew in silence for a few moments. Hiccup's fisted hands rested against his dragon's body. "There's only one choice, honour the agreement dad made with Arendelle." Toothless roared softy to comfort him. Hiccup tried to smile as he rubbed his head. "Thanks, bud." Hiccup lamented, "What do I say to Astrid?" Hiccup shook his head, grabbed the reins of harness. "Let's go back, Toothless." The night fury warbled, easily turning tightly in the air to head back to Berk.

It was nearly sunset when Hiccup returned to Berk, the large pillars were set a flame to light the approaching night for humans and dragons who may be flying in the area. He knew where he'd find Astrid, in their special spot, upon the mountain peak overlooking Berk. Moments later, Hiccup arrived, he spotted Stormfly easily, and Astrid a moment later. She was petting her dragon, seemed deep in thought.

"Astrid!" Hiccup called out to draw her out of her dazed state.

The blonde Viking looked up to see the approaching night fury, she gave a small wave and smile in greeting as they landed. Hiccup slowly dismounted, shared a deep look with his dragon. He was not being Hiccup right now, he was being the future chief of Berk, or so Hiccup tried to convince himself. He turned to see Astrid walking over to them, there was a shadowed look in her eyes. She knew. But how?

"We need to talk," Astrid began softly. Hiccup looked confused, worried. Astrid offered him a kind smile. "Your mom talked to me after you left to see your dad."

Hiccup sighed deeply, he settled to sit on the ground, watch the sun begin to disappear in the horizon of the sea. "So, you know everything then?"

"More or less, yes." Astrid sat down beside him, Stormfly and Toothless played in the background. "I know about the arranged marriage with the princess of Arendelle, that it was made before this all happened." She gestured to the dragons behind them, then looked longingly at Hiccup. "Before we happened."

Hiccup rubbed a hand over his face, "I'm sorry, so sorry Astrid." His voice was torn, melancholy. "I don't even know what to say to you right now. Are there even right words?" He looked at her, eyes filled with emotions, so many she could not count. Pain, sadness, heartache, they were all there, shining and honest in his bright green eyes.

She smiled sadly, eyes watering. "No, I don't think there is, Hiccup." She took his hand, gave it a small squeeze. "But I do understand, as much as I don't. I understand as one of your people what is expected of you as our future chief, but as someone who loves you, I can't understand, and I don't want to."

Hiccup gathered her into his arms, "I love you too, Astrid." He buried his face into her hair, she held onto him, it would be the last time as a loving couple.

Astrid leaned away a few moments later, touched Hiccup's cheek. "You will be an amazing chief one day, Hiccup. I know it, I'll always support you, I promise."

Hiccup smiled sadly, "Thank you, Astrid." They shared one last embrace. Hiccup held onto her tightly. _'I love you.'_ He hoped it was enough to convey to her his feelings. Astrid withdrew, unable to meet his gaze.

"I should go," Astrid stood up, whistled for Stormfly. She looked at him a moment later. "I think we should stay away from each other for a little while, I hope you understand?"

"I do," Hiccup reassured her reluctantly. "I'm sorry, Astrid."

The blonde Viking mounted her deadly nadder, eyes gleamed with unshed tears. "Me too, goodbye, Hiccup." Stormfly took flight, Hiccup let his tears fall. Toothless warbled and came to coil his body around his best friend. Hiccup hugged his dragon, buried his face into his neck, basking in the heat his body radiated.

"I don't know what I'd do without you, bud." Hiccup whispered sadly into his partner's body. Toothless licked his cheek affectionately. Toothless set fire to a small stack of branches he had collected with Stormfly to play. Together, dragon and rider sat in the night by the fire. Sometime before dawn, the fire had burnt out a long time ago, Hiccup had fallen asleep, resting against the night fury's flank, blanketed by his large wing. Toothless rested his head in Hiccup's lap, warbled softly as if vowing to remain by his best friend's side forever.

As the sun began to rise, shining over Berk, Hiccup was stirred away by the blinding sunlight. He groaned, he rubbed at his eyes, tear stained. He sat up, stirring the dragon beside him immediately. The prospect of a loveless marriage left a bitter taste in his mouth. There was no emotion in his voice, no emotion on his features, he spoke mindfully, "Let's go home, Toothless." The night fury shook himself out, sat beside his rider as they looked out at the rising sun. Hiccup's decision was made.

Stoick had been pacing around their home since before dawn, Valka had tried to reason with him their son would return. Husband and wife sat together by the fire, silently awaiting the arrival of their son. Stoick was worried, but Valka knew her son. They heard the door open, Hiccup and Toothless entered. Hiccup was startled to see his parents awake.

"Son," Stoick spoke softly, carefully, with uncertainty of how his son would react.

"Hi dad," Hiccup said gently. "Can we talk?"

"Of course, son." Stoick gestured to an open seat by the fire across from himself and Valka.

"I've been thinking, a lot, and I spoke with Astrid." He looked at his parents knowingly, Valka and Stoick both looked apologetic. "We broke up."

Stoick's hands tightened into fists in his lap, "I'm sorry, Hiccup. This is my fault."

"It's okay, dad. We both understand, we're just going to take some time apart for now." Hiccup explained, his ached deeply in his chest, his parents saw through his façade easily. "Will the other Vikings be offended if I take a foreign bride?"

"Berk has suffered greatly from the dragon war, son. Wagons of wheat, barely, and other essentials will lessen the sting I'm sure." Valka spoke kindly. "As bullheaded as Vikings are, they will understand the need for unions outside of Berk and with other kingdoms."

Hiccup slowly nodded, he took a deep, silent breath. "I'll do as was promised, I'll do my duty as future chief of Berk. I'll marry her."

Stoick looked startled, "Son… you don't know what this means to me." Stoick stood and hugged Hiccup tightly. "Thank you."

Hiccup could not respond, he only returned his father's hug and swallowed thickly the lump that rose in his throat. "When do they want the wedding?" He dared to ask.

"On the princess's eighteenth birthday," Stoick told him, he sighed softly. "A few months from now."

Hiccup tried to hide his disbelief but nodded. He was unable to find words, he had already agreed, may as well get it over with. "Oh, I see." Hiccup nodded. "Send an emissary to Arendelle."

Stoick nodded with a heavy heart, he patted his son on the shoulders. He left to his room to begin the letter to King Agnarr. Valka approached her son, hugged him. "I know it's a great sacrifice you're making son. I am the last person to tell you to do your duty from the choices I have made leaving you and your father, they were selfish choices, I thought at the time were for the greater good."

"What do I do mom," Hiccup said quietly. "I love Astrid so much."

"Astrid, she is a great woman, far greater than I was at her age. She may be the first woman you love, but she won't be the last, Hiccup." Valka hugged her son again. Hiccup returned her hug and leaned into her. "Does it help?"

Hiccup sighed with self-loathing humor, "No, but thanks for trying."

Valka shed a tear, "I love you, son."

"I love you too," Hiccup held onto her a little longer.

* * *

End of Chapter!

I hope you all enjoyed, please leave a review and some feedback, would love to hear your thoughts or any suggestions. I tried my best to stay in character.

**Author's Note Please Read:** I hope it made sense, was plausible, and conveyed the emotions well enough. I know Hiccup and Astrid seemed a bit rushed, but I think they did what they needed formally to break up but need time apart before they can have a proper talk later on.

So basically, this is present/ kind of past, as in the first chapter Arendelle had already received Stoick's agreement to the marriage. This took a few months before essentially. Yes, that was poor Wintergale trapped, I wanted to convey Toothless was interested in her, but his first instinct was to protect his friend from what he deemed a potential threat. I googled information 'alpha' dragon, regarding the manipulation ability in HTTYD 2, so hopefully it worked out realistically. Wintergale has basically been hunted by trappers for who knows how long since she left Elsa, so she does not trust humans anymore, maybe only Elsa, we shall see when they reunite!

Yes, Stoick is still alive! Since Skullcrusher is his, I created Fyrestorm for Eret, I chose a deadly nadder since I really liked his relationship with Stormfly in HTTYD 2.


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